Okay onto chapter three!
Thanks for my one review!
Now I forgot to say that this is AU but I probably will borrow some stuff from the TV series...because im not overly creative. I am gonna bring the other characters in as well probably not all of them (because again im not that creative) and hopefully it will work!
Now I've finished work early so I'm gonna drink a Cider, eat a cookie and read some Stephen King! What a hard life!
Please Read and Review!
Chapter Three
"Go git me a beer girl" Merle was outside knelt next to his bike with tools sprawled round him, he was doing maintenance on the only thing he'd ever refer to as 'his woman'.
Over by the shed is brother had strung up the deer carcass and was trying to carve it up which was proving difficult seeing as it was half frozen.
"Shoulda done that 'fore ya froze it lil brother" Merle gave his sibling a smug look.
"Shut up Merle" Daryl snapped back as he finally sawed the last hind leg off and threw it into a heap of offcuts that were rapidly defrosting in the afternoon heat.
He was pissed at himself for been so lazy, the doe spent nearly two weeks in the freezer before he had time to get to it, he'd managed to get a few more hours at the Mill and when he got home after a sixteen hour shift he could do nothing more then pass out on his bed.
He'd figured he'd be able to get a few cuts off it but the rest would spoil before they got a chance to touch it, weren't no way he could refreeze it now. Chuck Barrows who lived ten miles further into the mountains might wanna buy the rest off him to feed his dogs with.
Well...Daryl was hoping anyway cause the more he earned the more Merle figured he could drink. His paycheck didn't stretch very far these days and there was a truck that needed gassing and bills way to overdue for his liking, not to mention mouths that needed feeding.
The screen door to the trailer suddenly flew open and banged against the deck railing as Madeline came rocketing out her bare feet beat down on the wooden boards and she cleared the two steps down in a flying leap landing on the ground a good meter and a half clear grinning from ear to ear.
"Christ Rabbit the fucking door!" Daryl scolded for the thousandth time.
"Sorry" The little girl offered a quick apology and skipped over to her oldest brother.
"You'll be sorry when ya can't sit 'fore a week" Daryl muttered under his breath and went back to hacking up the deer.
"Here Merle" Madeline held the can of beer out and the older man grabbed it off her and cuffed the back of her head with his free hand, she drew back and rubbed the spot with a questioning glare.
"Ya gone shook it all up dumbass!" he sat the beverage under his bike in the shade and picked up the ratchet.
"You'n Darlina definitely got the same stupid gene" he laughed and went back to his work turning the radio up loud, an old sex pistols song crackled out the speakers.
"Rabbit why don'cha make yaself usefull n'take these to the truck" Daryl called the kid over and she obediently picked up a leg and dragged it away leaning it up against the back, it was too heavy for her to lift.
The next hour was spent hauling deer parts and fetching Merle beers (which she made sure to not shake up), Daryl was in the middle of carving off a nice side to eat for dinner when a loud beeping interrupted him. The song had stopped playing and a mans solemn voice came through the speaker radio, the redneck was only half listening and caught the words 'pandemic' and 'disease control' half a dozen times then something about 'people staying indoors' before Merle changed the station.
"Probably that bird flu 'gain, fuckn' chinks" he turned the knob until there wasn't as much static but it was again a news bulletin only this time a ladies voice could be heard talking bout the same thing.
"Leave it Merle I wanna hear it" Daryl straitened up blood dripping off the knife that was dangling by his side.
'...authorities are warning of a pandemic spreading rapidly through the country. Cases have already been confirmed right across the NorthEast, MidWest and South with reports the pandemic has reached California. Several casualties are now confirmed and the White House will be releasing a statement at approximately 4pm this afternoon. All commercial flights and public transport has been grounded and authorities have asked that residents remain at home. The pandemic is said to be spread by physical contact with symptoms similar to that of the rabies disease. Infected will show increased aggressive behavior and should not in anyway be approached. If you or someone you know may have contracted the disease please do not go to hospital or medical center, instead ring your local deputies department and they will guide you to the nearest quarantine facilities that are currently been set up in all major centers'
The transmission started over again and Merle yanked the chord out the back of the radio.
"Tha fucks that bout?" Daryl starred at the dead device like it was gonna somehow answer him.
"Dunno probably 'nother false alarm" Merle threw back the last of his beer and burped loudly, although he didn't sound so certain.
"Whats a Pandemic?" Madeline looked to her brothers but they didn't seem to hear her. Daryl was looking off into space his crystal blue eyes swirling with something the little girl had never seen before. Worry.
"FUCK WHERE IS SHE MERLE?" Daryl stumbled across his brother in the middle of the alcohol isle shoving bottles into a backpack. The air was swarming with noise and he had to yell just to be heard.
"THOUGHT SHE WAS WITH YOU?" Merle grabbed another, more and more people were pushing their way into the already packed supermarket and Daryl was shoved from behind.
"GET THE FUCK OFF ME MAN!" he spun round grabbing the culprit by the front of his shirt and sent him flying into the shelves which sent wine bottles crashing to the ground.
"LEFT HER IN THE TRUCK, SHE AINT THERE NO MORE!" He balled his fists and started back down the isle seeing his brother was of no use, he knew it was a stupid idea but he needed to load up on supplies and she would have just got in the way so instead he left her in the truck which was parked round back in an alleyway.
"MADELINE!" He yelled over the top of the crowd but it was no use because everyone was shouting, it was quickly becoming dangerously packed inside and folks were beginning to become more and more aggressive as the shelves emptied.
"MADELINE!" He called again cupping his hands around his mouth.
"SEEN HER OVER BY THE FRUIT!" Merle's head suddenly popped up over in the next isle and Daryl made his way towards produce getting into a few altercations along the way one which lead to his vest missing a few buttons.
"WHERE?"
"SHE WAS JUST HERE" The oldest Dixon looked round then suddenly shoved a lady away and snatched something off the ground.
Daryl felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the familiar dirty white sneaker in Merle's oversized hand. It could have been any kids shoe except this one had a crayon drawn sun on the side and he knew it was his baby sisters.
"FUCK!" He ran a hand through his sandy hair and spun wildly round in a 360, he only got half round though when a scream rung through the shop making him freeze.
For a whole two seconds there was complete silence before another scream sent everyone into a frenzy, people who had just gotten inside were now stampeding for the doors and windows. Bodies went down and were trampled alive as the crush surged towards any exit they could.
Merle and Daryl were luckily in the furthermost corner of the store and had sense enough not to go with the frantic crowd.
"You see her Merle?" Daryl scanned the people hoping against hope that his kid sister weren't in there.
Suddenly a chorus of ear piercing screams erupted from a few isles over and one of them sounded like a kid.
Both brothers sprinted towards the source of the noise and as they rounded the corner nearly tripped over a body lying on the floor.
"FUCK" Merle stepped back his eyes wide, the drugs he'd taken a few days before must not have worn off cause what he was seeing couldn't be real.
Half a dozen bodies were lying scattered down the isle like crash test dummies only they were been eaten...by what looked like humans.
A housewife in a khaki skirt and cream blouse was hovering over one of the bodies her mouth full of intestine that she was pulling from the mans stomach her face was covered in blood and when she glanced in his direction her eyes were glazed over and void. Her hands were buried deep inside and there was a large gaping wound in her forearm.
"What's happening here bro?" Merle kept his voice low he looked to Daryl who was in the same state of shock.
"It's that disease...it's here" he blinked in disbelief, watching a man who looked to be in his eighties tear chunks of flesh out of a young asian girls neck, she was still alive and gasping for breath but only for a few more minutes.
"O Shhiiit...RABBIT!" Daryl suddenly bolted forward kicking the housewife out of the way with his boat and jumped over an overweight corpse who had already been picked over its body parts strewn beside it in a pool of thick blood that coated the floor.
Next to the corpse half hidden under the body of another overweight carcass (the two were probably related) sticking out was a thin arm with a familiar piece of colored twine wrapped around its wrist.
"RABBIT!" It took all Daryl's strength to lift the body up and push it out the way, behind him Merle had hold of the housewife who was shuffling towards his brother. He struggled to keep her restrained as she turned her attention to him instead.
"Maddie? Maddie?" Daryl turned the little girl onto her back, she was coated in blood and other fluids he couldn't identify. He used his hand to wipe some of the gunk from her face then brought her mouth to his ear hearing very faint breaths.
"Hurry the fuck up man!" Merle grappled with his hostage but was now more worried about the others that had noticed the commotion and were making their way down the isles stumbling over what had been their meals.
Daryl noticed as well because he scooped his sister up and quickly started to backtrack.
"C'Mon!" he gave Merle a wide birth and headed towards the exit only a handful of people were left filing out and he had to step over several who had fallen.
"MERLE C'MON!" he called behind him noticing his brothers absence.
Back in the isle the older Dixon finally managed to detach the housewife's fingers from his singlet top and catapulted her headfirst into the approaching groaning dead things the effect was something like hitting a strike and Merle couldn't help the whoop that came outta his mouth.
"Dam that shits all kinda fucked up" he jogged out onto the street adrenaline kicking in and caught up with Daryl who turned down the alleyway.
"Rabbit OK?" He looked at the limp gore covered child in his brothers arms.
"She's breathing" was all he said and turned the corner, the truck was just ahead behind a line of garbage cans which mostly concealed it.
"We needa git outta here" He pulled the passenger door open and jumped in Merle opting to drive.
"Hell I second that"
The engine roared into life and the cans flew to the sides as the truck roared through them blue smoke billowing out behind as it rocketed down the alley and onto the street narrowly missing a few pedestrians who threw themselves out of the way.
Merle put his foot to the ground and wrenched her round a sharp bend weaving in and out of some abandoned cars and shot across a few front lawns before settling back onto the road.
"Git onto something quieter this one's gonna back up soon" Daryl pulled a bandana from the glove box and started wiping more of the thick blood from Madeline's face, there were a few bruises and a cut on her upper lip and forehead that he could see so far but nothing life threatening.
Suddenly the truck came to a screeching halt and Daryl threw his legs against the dashboard to stop himself from being flung through the window.
"Th' fuck are ya doing?" he glared over at Merle who threw open his door and jumped out in the middle of the street and disappeared through a wooden gate, reappearing twenty seconds later.
"C'Mon little brother!" He gestured for him to follow and Daryl stared at him in disbelief but his body automatically got out on its own accord.
"Aint time ta start looting" He snapped and Merle's eyes twinkled
"Hell that's a good idea" He disappeared again and Daryl bit his tongue cautiously following his sibling into the backyard of a neatly manicured suburban home.
"Wha' the fuck we doin' here we gotta git the fuck out?!" He rounded the corner of the house and came upon a swimming pool.
"Ya wanna go fuck'n swimming!" Daryl shook his head in disbelief.
"No dumbass!" Merle pushed the safety gate open.
"Clean her off is all, your pussy ass head scarf aint gonna do the trick now is it?"
For once in his life Daryl was shocked that his brother had come up with a suggestion that was actually helpful.
"Don't want her getting blood and shit all over my seats" Merle added.
"Right Rabbit just gonna give ya quick bath ya hear me?" Daryl gently lay her on the ground and pulled his hunting knife from his belt quickly cutting away the blood soaked clothes from her body.
Her eyes suddenly shot open the whites as clear as day and she shoved her hands into his chest.
"whooa whoooa Maddie it's just me" he held her pencil thin wrists lightly in one hand and brushed a clump of mattered hair from her forehead.
She relaxed a little but her breathing remained ragged and her big blue orbs darted around.
"Goin' for a quick swim Rabbit" he stripped down to his boxes and scooped her back up.
Merle had disappeared into the vacant house the family had fled a few days earlier.
The water was warm as Daryl walked down the steps he'd never actually been swimming in an actual pool before and he didn't get why folks wanted to swim in holes filled with chemicals and other peoples piss when there were perfectly good rivers out there.
The water came to his belly button and he kept Madeline's head just above, she looked wide eyed up at him as he rubbed his palm up and down her arms and legs wiping them clean, around them the water was growing murky.
"Hold ya breath rabbit" He put his fingers over her nose and she squeezed her eyes tight as he quickly dunked her under washing away the rest of the blood and other substances from her face.
She coughed and trembled against him goosebumps popping up all over her bare flesh.
Daryl quickly made his way back out of the pool and stood her in front of him looking for any cuts or wounds, she blushed and tried to turn away but was quickly hauled back around by large hands.
"Git off it girl aint like I aint seen ya before" he growled running his hands down her ribs which were splotched with bruises but that seemed to be all.
He then turned her round and checked her back which was scrapped up and red looking and she flinched when his fingers grazed her inflamed skin.
"You'll live" he grunted satisfied that she was okay.
"Hell you two working on ya tans or som'thin" Merle appeared from inside the house stashing some white pill bottles into his pockets.
"Watch her would ya" Daryl grabbed his clothes and disappeared round the corner of the house to strip off his wet boxes and pull his jeans and vest back on.
When he returned Madeline was crouched down her arms wrapped around her legs and Merle was sprawled out on a lounger.
"'M living the dream bro" he grinned putting his arms under his head basking in the sun.
"Let's go" Daryl bent down and lifted the shivering kid off the ground it must have been shock because it was bout 120 out.
Maddie buried herself into her brothers vest and breathed in the familiar sent of wood and smoke, she could still feel her heart pounding through her chest, images of flesh and fat been torn from people who were still alive and screaming flashed through her mind and she squeezed her eyes closed wishing they would stop.
She didn't even notice the blanket been draped over her or the fact that they were in the truck.
"S'ok Rabbit" Daryl kept one arm draped around her and lent the other out the window, she curled one stick thing arm around his neck and wiggled round til her face was buried in the crook of his shoulder.
Dying screams and the sound of meat been pulled from bone played like a scratched record and when the truck backfired she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Madeline knew she should of listened to her brother. She wished she'd never gone inside...